Oklahoma State (5-3) vs. Baylor (4-4) Game Preview

One Reason Why Oklahoma State Will Win

The Oklahoma State offense has suffered a few bizarre meltdowns – doing nothing against Kansas State or Texas Tech – but when it’s on, forget it.

It’s this simple for the Cowboys. Score, and win. Don’t score, and lose.

They did lose to Iowa State in a 48-42 shootout, but they came up with their five wins when the offense clicked, and lost both games when it didn’t. After that brilliant performance against Texas in an emotional 38-35 win, the O can’t suffer a slump now.

If the Baylor defense that got hit by West Virginia for 58 points and by Oklahoma for 66 shows up, there won’t be a problem.

The issue for the Bears is a secondary that’s been great against the mediocre passing games, and awful against the decent ones.

Taylor Cornelius and the Cowboys threw for 321 yards and three scores against the Longhorns last week, and they’ve cranked up three scoring passes or more in three of the last four games.

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One Reason Why Baylor Will Win

Oklahoma State can and will strike quickly, but its offense can also go into massive lulls. It has to be up to Baylor to hold on to the ball and control the tempo throughout.

It’s good at doing that, and occasionally bringing teams down to its level. Just ask Texas, who survived, but barely.

Cornelius might be coming off a strong game, but he can make mistakes and be off when he’s under pressure. Baylor has to generate pressure, and it has to get to Cornelius and make him rush.

This isn’t a slow-and-go Baylor team, but it’s great at owning the clock, leading the Big 12 in time of possession. Oklahoma State doesn’t care about the clock, and it’s going to be an issue – Baylor might have the ball for well over 35 minutes.

The Cowboys aren’t going to come up with a full 60 minutes, and Baylor has to go on a run when it gets its shot. The passing game is more than good enough to do that.

What’s Going To Happen

The Oklahoma State defensive front will take over when it has to.

The offense isn’t going to be as devastating and impressive as it was against Texas, but it’ll be good enough. The nation’s top pass rush, though, is going to destroy the Baylor offensive line that gives up way too many plays in the backfield.

The Bears will make this interesting, but when it’s crunch time, OSU’s defense will come through.